Answers

Loans from family members are a common way of obtaining EB-5 investment funds. Such loans are often unsecured, so you will want to draw up a formal loan agreement. You must also document to show the funds are truly transferred to the family member, such as an affidavit or sworn declaration stating that there is no other collateral or security for the loan, and that no other agreements other than what is set forth in the loan documents. USCIS often asks for the person lending money to document the source of funds, and the person borrowing the money to document how they intend to repay the funds. Such loans cannot be secured by the assets of the EB-5 enterprise.

Under current law, you may loan the funds to your sibling if they originate from a lawful source of funds and are secured by your sibling's personal assets equal or higher in value than the amount loaned. Otherwise, you must gift the funds to your sibling with no expectation of having the funds returned to you after the investment. You should consult an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney for further assistance with properly documenting the transaction.

There are no special restrictions or regulations prohibiting an EB-5 investor from loaning or giving money to another person for that person to use in his or her own EB-5 case. Keep in mind, however, that you will have to provide extensive evidence about where, how and when you lawfully earned the funds you plan to loan to or give to your sibling. Furthermore, there are special rules about loans being used by an EB-5 investor. The investor must be personally and primarily liable for the loan, the loan must be legally enforceable and it must be properly secured with collateral. The EB-5 investor also has the burden of showing the lawful source of funds to purchase the collateral in the first place. Due to the complex nature of these issues, you should consult with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney before you take any action.

Under certain conditions, the EB-5 investor with a pending I-526 petition may loan funds to his or her sibling so the sibling can start his own EB-5 process by filing an EB-5 Investor Petition on Form I-526. At a minimum, not only would you have to show a lawful source of funds, but you would also have to show the loan was secured by property of equal value.

For the moment, there are no specific rules regarding family loans. However, there have been proposals to limit loans and to specify the circumstances under which they can be made. You would need to show the source of funds for your loan to meet the legal source of funds requirement. The loan must be shown to be at arm's length and, therefore, it would be prudent for your sibling to provide collateral with the equivalent amount of value for the investment amount and execute a mortgage or other security. This security cannot be on the EB-5 investment itself.

Any loan must be secured by the applicant 's property. The applicant would need to demonstrate how they are able to obtain the funds to purchase the asset that they are using as security. Additionally, you would need to work with your sibling 's attorney to document the source of the funds you are loaning to your sibling. All this can be easily accomplished with the help of an experienced EB-5 investment immigration attorney.

Currently, it is doable. Your sibling must show they have sufficient collateral for the loan. Otherwise, an alternative is that you can simply gift the funds to your sibling. Please note that, in both scenarios, you will likely have to explain/provide evidence of where you lawfully earned the funds to gift as well.

You should be able to loan funds to your sibling for EB-5 purposes if you can show you have earned your funds legally, have transferred those funds to your sibling and your sibling has security against the loan. You may also gift the funds to your sibling. Your pending application will not affect the process if you and your sibling can provide the above proof.

Presently, there are no restrictions on making such a loan other than they have to be fully collateralized by your brother 's assets. If he does not have assets, then you must gift the money to him.

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